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Friday, December 17, 2010

Cmon Gordie Tell Them About Jesper

What a surprise it was to see Gordie Clark the New York Rangers Director of Player Personnel being interviewed by Sam Rosen during the 1st intermission of the Ranger/Coyote game. As a prospect watcher Clarks performance has to be viewed as kind of half empty, half full.

We think the Rangers should be doing more to show the fans that the future is going to be much better than the present is. Yes it is easy to talk about Chris Kreider (2009 1st) and a Ryan Bourque (2009 3rd) but most Ranger fans already know about those 2 from the gold medal won last year by Team USA.

It was a chance to give the Ranger fans a peek at someone like a Jesper Fasth (2010 6th) who from everything we have been told is this year's Carl Hagelin. Fasth is someone we can not wait to see for ourselves when he plays for Sweden in the World Under-20 Championships.

We got sent this by a friend as gives us a tiny glimpse of Jesper Fasth. In this clip Fasth is in white wearing #18 as the parts to watch are 0:26 and 1:26. Fasth scores a goal and sets up another in this clip.

We got told right after the draft by a friend in Europe that this was a kid to keep an eye on as he is as skinny as a rail (just like Carl Hagelin was at this age) but has good hands as well as a strong hockey IQ. They said (and this was while was playing for HV-71's junior team) that Fasth is going to move up faster than people will expect.

"If the Rangers leave him alone for a couple of years and let him grow into his body they could have a player"

In the limited looks we have had of Fasth, the more we like what he does. He was promoted to HV-71's adult team and has not done badly for himself. In 26 games playing with the main team Fasth at 19 is 4-6-10 and improving with each passing game.

A prospect to watch for sure.

One thing we do love about Clark's interview with Sam Rosen was how Clark talked up Carl Hagelin (2006 7th) of the Michigan Wolverines. If there was any doubt that the Rangers want to sign Hagelin when his season ends with Miching then this was it.

While we can not help but wonder if the timing of this interview had to do with Hagelin's performance at the Big Chill last Saturday (2-1-3 and 1st Star) or in response to the silly rumor that was circulated we do not care.

The bottom line is the Rangers want him and if Hagelin does not sign then it is going to be very hard to place blame on the Rangers. One thing is for certain we will know one way or another by August 15th 2011 as that is the day the Ranger's exclusive rights to Hagelin expire.